The Environment Agency has declared seven areas of central, eastern and southern England officially in drought, with other areas moved to prolonged dry weather warnings. The announcement, brought as breaking news, follows a record period of low rainfall and record high temperatures across the country.
The areas declared in drought include East Anglia, Hertfordshire, the whole of London, the Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands, and Wessex, which covers Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire. In the south of England, only Kent and East Sussex are not officially in drought, because their groundwater aquifers supply much of their water and were replenished by rain early in June.
According to the Environment Agency, the situation comes down to a lack of rainfall. July has seen only about 7 percent of the normal average rainfall for the month, falling to just 1 percent across southern England. Officials described the situation as a flash drought, a short and sharp shift, noting that relief will not come until there is significantly more rain.
For ordinary consumers, the immediate change is limited. Most water companies in the affected areas have already issued hosepipe bans and other measures to try to limit domestic water use. The formal drought declaration, however, marks a further step in how the situation is being managed.
In a drought situation like this, restrictions move to levels that affect industrial users of water and farmers who abstract water from rivers to irrigate their land. Water companies and the Environment Agency now gain further powers to restrict water use where appropriate, or to ration it to higher priority users.
The declaration also has consequences for the natural environment. Bodies such as Natural England, which are responsible for the health of wildlife and rivers, can take additional steps once a drought is officially declared to protect river ecology, which is threatened by very low river flows. Across most of England, river flows are at low or extremely low levels.
The declaration concerns England, as the Environment Agency is responsible for England. Wales declared a formal drought in parts of the country last week, while Scotland uses slightly different definitions and refers to severe water scarcity. In Scotland, only the east and south are experiencing equivalent drought conditions, and there are no serious water shortages for consumers or hosepipe bans there.